Standard Bank has urged its clients to update their passwords and monitor their emails and apps for any suspicious activity, following a data breach reported last month.

The banking group on 23 March noted an incident involving unauthorised access to its data. 

“We will directly notify the select number of clients that are affected. We have increased our monitoring and encourage our clients to remain vigilant,” said Standard Bank in a 23 March statement.

Following a preliminary investigation, it confirmed this week that the data included names, ID numbers and company registration numbers. The banking group said this is based on what they know for sure at this stage, based on the investigation by external experts. 

“We have reported this incident to the regulatory authorities.”

Meanwhile, banking systems have not been affected.

“They remain secure and operational and available to all our clients and employees.”

Standard Bank added that there is a risk that hackers could use that stolen information to impersonate their clients or contact them for scams.   

It recommended several steps that clients could take as a precaution:

“We advise all our clients to follow good practices, including but not limited to:

• Update your banking passwords on our digital banking platforms as well as your social media platforms.
• Enable digital authentication on the Standard Bank mobile banking app.
• Contact us or your Relationship Manager immediately if you notice any suspicious activity on your bank accounts or cards.
• Never share personal information such as passwords and PINs when asked to do so by anyone via phone, fax, text messages or even email.
• Use strong unique passwords and enable biometric authentication where possible.
• Register with the Southern African Fraud Prevention Service for protective registration. This is a free service. If anyone tries to apply for any banking related products with your identity number, it will be declined or referred for further review. Visit https://www.safps.org.za/Home/OurServices_ApplyProtectiveRegistration
• Verify any unexpected email, SMS or call asking for sensitive information by contacting the bank through trusted channels.
• Avoid clicking on suspicious links or unfamiliar websites URLs.”

It further noted that the investigation into the breach is ongoing, and that their “highest priority” is to ensure that the personal information and privacy of their clients is protected.

“If we discover that any additional information was affected, we will provide further updates on our website or directly to you.”